Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reassured attendees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference that Israel and the US are "like a family," saying "our alliance is strong."

“You’re here to tell the world that reports of the demise of
Israeli-US relations are not only premature, they’re just
wrong,” Netanyahu said Monday in Washington.

“You’re here to tell the world that our alliance is stronger
than ever.”

Netanyahu’s speech comes a day before his controversial address before the US Congress, an
appearance in which the Israeli prime minister will speak out
against negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program. On Monday,
he just slightly touched upon the topic of Iran calling it
“the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in the world,”
saying there must be no way Iran achieves a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu: "In a dark and savage and desperate Middle East,
Israel is a beacon of light and hope."

“Working together has made Israel stronger. Working together
has made our partnership stronger," Netanyahu said, in part
a nod to the work AIPAC has done in recent decades to build
support for Israel in Washington.

Views of Netanyahu among Americans are generally positive. A
new Gallup poll found that 45 percent of
American respondents said they view Netanyahu favorably, while 24
percent view him unfavorably. Sixty percent of Republicans were
positive about the prime minister, as well as 45 percent of
political independents and 31 percent of Democrats.

A new Pew poll also reported strong favorability for Netanyahu
among Americans.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News
survey, meanwhile, found that 48 percent of respondents said
Republicans on Capitol Hill should not have invited Netanyahu to
speak to a joint session of Congress without first notifying
President Obama.

The Israeli prime minister has said he believed the
“two-party leadership” of Congress had invited him, but
congressional aides said they knew of no congressional Democrats
who had been consulted, according to reports.

Several congressional Democrats have said they would skip
Netanyahu's Tuesday address, according to The Hill. Those members include
civil rights pioneer Rep. John Lewis and Sen. Patrick Leahy, who
called the scheduled speech a "tawdry and
high-handed stunt."

Many objectors said the speech was nothing more than a campaign
booster for Netanyahu, as he faces reelection at home on March
17.

“I intend to watch his speech about Iran from my office, but
I have strong objections to using the floor of the United State
Congress as a stage for his election campaign — or anyone's for
that matter," Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich said in a
statement.

President Obama, meanwhile, has refused to meet with the Israeli
PM during his visit, while Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary
of State John Kerry are both abroad.

The US and Israel have been at odds over the Iran’s nuclear
program: Washington seeks to allow some nuclear activity for the
country, while Tel Aviv opposes Tehran’s nuclear program
altogether.

Last week, Netanyahu came under fire from Washington’s UN envoy
Samantha Power and National Security Advisor Susan Rice, who both
decried his decision to speak at the Congress without the
official permission from the presidential administration.

In particular, Rice said the partisanship caused by Netanyahu's
looming address was "destructive to the fabric of US-Israeli
ties."

Kerry has warned against public discussion of the ongoing nuclear
talks between the US and Iran as part of the P5+1 negotiating
group, as this might damage the process aimed at preventing
Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, AP reported.

“We are concerned by reports that suggest selected details of
the ongoing negotiations will be discussed publicly in the coming
days,” Kerry said from Geneva on Monday.

“I want to say clearly, doing so would make it more difficult
to reach the goal that Israel and others say they share in order
to get a good deal. Israel's security is absolutely at the
forefront of all our minds but rightly so is the security of all
the other countries in the region, so is our security in the
United States.”

As The Intercept
reported Monday, Netanyahu has repeatedly sounded the alarm
over Iran's supposed impending nuclear weaponry for the last two
decades. One of those instances came during a speech during a
joint session of the US Congress in 1996.

“If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons, this could presage
catastrophic consequences, not only for my country, and not only
for the Middle East, but for all mankind,” Netanyahu said.

“The deadline for attaining this goal is getting extremely
close,” he added.